Tension on the rise as US advises its citizens to leave Iraq Immediately

The State Department has urged American citizens to immediately leave Iraq, citing danger in the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike which killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Embassy specifically warned its citizens to avoid the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, which had been besieged by Iranian-backed militias on Thursday.

It also revealed that due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice warning that U.S. citizens should not approach the Embassy at least for the time being.

“Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, the U.S. Embassy urges American citizens to heed the January 2020 Travel Advisory and depart Iraq immediately,” the State Department said in the statement. “Due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice. U.S. citizens should not approach the Embassy.”

READ ALSO: US threatens war with Iraq after protesters attacked its Baghdad embassy

President Donald Trump authorized the strike that killed Soleimani, who led the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, at Baghdad’s international airport early Friday morning.

The Pentagon said Soleimani was also “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

“General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more,” the statement added.

While condemning the killing of General Soleimani, Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the US of a ‘harsh retaliation’.

Zaif also described the extermination of Soleimani as an “act of international terrorism.”

“The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” Zairf said in a statement on Friday, warning that the move would strengthen resistance against the United States and Israel in the region and the world, Iranian state television reported.

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